Disclaimer: I don't own The Worst Witch.

A/N: This is a one-shot I wrote as a lil present for my best friend/wifey after she wished for some more (any! :P) Starbroom interaction. It sits as a missing scene somewhere in season 3, episode 11: The Broomstick Uprising.

You've Got a Friend

She doesn't react as the door to the potions laboratory creaks open. Nor does she bat an eyelid as Dimity Drill enters the room. It is only when the PE teacher starts to crawl across the floor like some kind of demented stick insect that Hecate Hardbroom finally decides to intervene.

'May I help you?'

The right timing, however, has never been a particularly strong suit, and there's an unfortunate yelp of surprise, followed by a heavy thud as Dimity's head and the underside of the desk collide. A string of expletives colour the air blue as the injured witch rubs at her sore head, while also surreptitiously checking for any old chewing gum that may have attached itself to her person as a result of the collision.

'Language, Miss Drill!'

'Shit!' Dimity mentally kicks herself as she scrambles up and onto her feet. 'I mean er-sorry, HB. I didn't mean to disturb you … I'll go.'

She doesn't leave though.

Instead she makes her way to the front of the room and pulls up a chair, frankly more than a little concerned at how close to tears her normally unflappable colleague appears to be.

Dimity Drill has seen many an expression cross the deputy headmistress's face over the years. In fact, she is rather proud to admit that she has been the cause of most of them. This one is something new entirely though. Before she can have the chance to enquire any further though, Hecate's sharpened tongue slices through the still air with a barely concealed disdain.

'Dare I even ask what you think you are doing sneaking around my classroom like some poor imitation cat burglar?'

'I was um … looking for a bracelet.'

Hecate raises an eyebrow. 'A bracelet?'

'Yeah,' Dimity replies, despite knowing how much the use of colloquial language irks her superior. 'Indigo's bracelet is missing.' She shrugs as though she doesn't quite know what else to say on the subject. 'Anyway, she seemed pretty upset about it, and I had a free period before the first years are due, so I offered to help her look for it.'

'That is somewhat … admirable.'

At the rare compliment, Dimity practically beams. 'Cheers. I wonder why the Finding Spell led me here though?'

Hecate drops her gaze, suddenly appearing to become very interested in the wood grain pattern of her desk.

If the mere idea wasn't so ludicrous, then Dimity Drill would swear that Hecate Hardbroom was actively trying to avoid her question …

'Oh well,' Dimity says after a short silence has passed. 'I had best keep looking, I guess.' She makes to stand, but then changes her mind at the last minute, dramatically flopping back down into the chair she has just vacated. 'Hopefully it will turn up soon. That poor girl is already freaked out enough over her exam without losing her lucky charm to boot!'

'Lucky charm?'

Any relief Hecate may have had quietly fizzles away to nothing with the confirmation of those words. Suddenly, just like that, she is drowning in the depths of the dark, icy waters of guilt once more.

'Yeah, ' Dimity says.

If she has noticed the crack in Hecate's voice, then she doesn't comment.

'Some bracelet her and her friend made. Before … well, you know.' She jerks her head, indicating towards what has been dubbed "statue-gate" by most of the other students. She half-expects to receive a chastisement, but instead she is met with a wall of silence. Dimity frowns. This is not at all like the Hecate Hardbroom she knows. Actually, now that she properly looks, her colleague does look a little on the pale side.

'Er … are you okay, HB?'

She peers in closer.

A little pale is, perhaps, a little bit of an understatement.

The woman in question looks as though she has just seen a ghost!

'Should I fetch Ada? Or maybe open a window or something?'

'I-'

Hecate takes a deep breath, desperately trying to force the oxygen back into her starved lungs. As she sits there, it suddenly feels as if everything is unravelling all at once, and it is all too much. Another breath and she gives herself a shake. Forces her mind and body to pull itself together. With that done, she fixes Dimity with a stare she hopes will be enough to silence any further questions regarding her wellbeing. 'I can assure you that will not be necessary, Miss Drill. I am fine.'

'Well, okay … that's good then.' A pause. 'You do know that would be a lot more convincing if you weren't currently leaking, right?'

Hecate curses as another tear spills down her cheek. Before she can even think about vanishing herself and her humiliation into the ether though, there is something soft being tucked into her hand.

The handkerchief is exactly the kind of thing she would expect from a former Star of The Sky: a brilliant blue, its design is adorned by tiny silhouettes of stars and broomsticks. As well as some initials that suddenly help to make a certain nickname make a whole lot more sense. Or, at least, Hecate hopes that is what the initials allude to. The alternative is not one she really wants to think about …

'Granny made it,' Dimity explains, a slight blush colouring her cheeks. 'It's clean, I swear.'

'I would sincerely hope so.'

'Look HB, I know that we haven't always seen eye-to-eye about a lot of things. And that I must get on your nerves almost as much as the girls do.'

Hecate sniffs. 'More.'

'Okay,' Dimity hastily amends, 'more than the girls do, but somewhere deep down, we're friends. Or, at least, I like to believe that we must have formed some kind of crazy bond over the years. Whatever is going on, you can tell me. No judgement, I promise.'

Her eyes search for the insincerity. For signs that all that is wanted is a hot, juicy piece of gossip. One that will definitely send shockwaves through the witching community if ever made public. Instead though, what Hecate finds are irises that brim with genuine concern, and a friendly ear willing to listen to her woes.

'I trust you are aware of Indigo's ongoing search for her old friend Joy?'

'I think everyone in the school is aware of that, Hecate.'

'Well, Joy was-' here Hecate hesitates. She still isn't terribly sure whether this is a good idea or not, but she desperately needs to talk to someone, and at the moment, Dimity A. Drill seems to be her best option.

Well, her only option.

Frustrated with herself and her own shortcomings, she tries again.

'Joy is … a student who was in my year when I was a girl studying at Cackle's. She was a terribly foolish girl in many ways. You see, Miss Drill, young Joy was of the strongest belief that the Witches' Code — those very rules which govern the foundations of our society — did not apply to her.'

'Sounds like every student that comes through these doors, to be honest!' Dimity grins. 'Were you friends with her too then?'

Already Hecate is beginning to regret this decision.

'Joy's parents were great believers in upholding the standing traditions of the craft, and as such, they had very …. precise plans in mind for their daughter's life and subsequent future. Joy, however, dreamt of something more. She was particularly drawn towards the non-magical world; to those simple pleasures that her parents' had always forbade: ice-cream, music, dancing. As you can imagine, both sets of ideologies quickly clashed, leading to a very fraught relationship within the family unit. The more her parents pushed her towards the right path, the more Joy rebelled. She would often sneak out of school and go to the little park in the village, and it was there that she first met a girl. A girl who had no magical abilities to call her own, but who believed in the very possibility of magic's existence, and somehow that was enough for her to be able to see Joy in a world where no one else could.'

'Indigo Moon, I assume?'

'The two girls quickly struck up a friendship, and it was wonderful. Until it was … not so wonderful. Somehow, the teachers' found out. Together, with Joy's parents' blessing, they decided to allow Joy to finish off her education at Cackle's, on the sole condition that she was to be magically confined to the grounds until graduation. After Indigo was … well, let us just say that the magic council decided it was safer for all to simply extend Joy's sentence.'

'For how long?' Dimity asks. She feels sick. Physically sick at the horrors inflicted upon a young girl who had clearly just wanted someone to be her friend.

'Thirty years and counting …'

With one more piece left to fully cement the jigsaw, Hecate calmly reaches into her drawer and pulls out a hexagonal-shaped box.

'You had best give this back to Miss Moon.' To Hecate's absolute credit, her hand does not shake as she passes over the handmade item of jewellery. 'Her examination is imminent after all.'

For a second, Dimity wonders if she is perhaps the unsuspecting victim of a hidden camera show.

Thinks that this whole entire thing has been nothing but a massive set-up, and that any minute now, some semi-famous wannabe is going to appear from the shadows, film crew in tow, and yell how she's been had! The haunted look in Hecate's eyes says otherwise though, and that alone is enough to convince her that this is no playground prank. Twiddling the bracelet between her thumb and forefinger, she tries to streamline the many, many questions that are currently tumbling their way through her thoughts.

'You mean that you're-'

'Yes.'

And you really can't-'

'No.'

'Does anyone else know that-'

'Ada,' Hecate answers, once again before the question can even be asked. 'And Miss Bat, ' she continues on. 'Oh, and Mildred Hubble may also be privy to this particular tidbit of information.'

'Mildred Hubble knows?'

The lilt in the PE teacher's voice is not at all surprising.

In truth, there had been no one more surprised than Hecate herself as she stood in the woods that day and confessed her deepest, darkest secret to the worst witch of the entire school. There were times, even now, where she wondered whether or not telling Mildred Hubble had perhaps been yet another grave mistake, but she had needed to let her see. Had to make the girl understand the potential dangers of messing around with magic that you could not control.

'It was considered a rather … necessary evil at the time. Fortunately, as it is Mildred, she has sworn to keep my secret without expecting any special treatment in return. Unfortunately, because it is Mildred, she believes that Indigo deserves to know the truth.'

'And what do you think about that?'

'I think that she will hate me, Dimity.'

Hecate's voice is barely above a whisper, yet it reveals more truth than ever before. There is no sarcasm. No snark or snappy retorts hidden within her reply. In fact, there is none of the usual razzmatazz that normally helps to give Hecate Hardbroom that Extra vibe she is oh so famous for. There is just a woman who is on her knees, and a secret which just might prove to be her undoing.

'That is, of course, assuming Indigo Moon does not already hate me. I have not exactly given her the warmest of welcomes to our establishment, have I?'

'You know, you can tell me to mind my own business if you want, Hecate, but I've heard Indigo talk about Joy, and it's pretty clear how much she still means to her. I'm guessing you two were close?'

'We were.' There is a smile, and a rare sparkle of joy within a memory. 'We were more like sisters than friends really. Told each other everything. We um … we made a promise, a vow, that we would always be there for each other … that we would never let anything or anyone keep us apart.' Fresh tears trail down Hecate's cheeks. 'How can I possibly expect Indigo's forgiveness after all that I have done?' Her eyes are wide, desperately seeking answers to questions she thought she would never have to ask. 'I have already let her down in so many ways.'

'You don't.'

Hecate blinks. 'I-what?'

Dimity's touch is gentle as she reaches for the handkerchief still tucked tightly in Hecate's hand. 'No, love.' She dabs at the teary eyes, her touch proving soft and familiar and comforting in a way Hecate doesn't know she needs. Despite an already flawed judgement, Hecate finds herself voluntarily leaning into the contact. 'The decision to forgive or not is one that lies with Indigo. And the chances are, yeah, she probably will be pretty mad. She might hate you. She may even punch you in the face-'

'Why did you smile when you said that?'

'But at least then it will be her decision. At least she will be acting on her actual, proper feelings, and not just the ones that your fears are projecting onto this situation. If you don't want to listen to me, fine, then listen to a very wise, very dear friend of mine instead. She's a teacher too, and she always tries to instil the same life lesson in the students' in her care. Do you want to know what she says?'

'If I say no, are you going to tell me anyway?'

'She says that a witch takes responsibility.'

Dimity lets the deputy's own words hang in the air for a few minutes, hoping that their full impact will be felt.

'Look, I get why you're scared, Hecate, I do. Hell, I'm scared for you! Keeping this from Indigo won't end well though, and I suspect deep down you must already know that or else I doubt we would even be having this conversation. Now, I think that you should be the one to give this back to Indigo.' Carefully, she places the bracelet back with its matching partner in crime. 'Her examination is imminent after all, and I really think she could be doing with her lucky charm.'

Hecate's eyes swim with unshed tears as the words wash over her. As much as it pains her to admit it — and it does by a lot — the younger woman is right. She looks to the bracelets snuggled neatly together in the same box that has kept hers safe for the past three decades, and sighs.

'While I can appreciate the sentiment, I sadly do not believe that some coloured string is going be of much help in assessing Indigo's examination performance this afternoon. Once again, I fear we are rather reliant on the abilities of Mildred Hubble to help save the day.'

'Well, we should be in safe hands then, shouldn't we?' Dimity winks. 'Anyway, I have a first year class to prepare for, and I think we both know that those Joy puns are not going to write themselves.' She smirks upon seeing the look of sheer horror spread slowly across Hecate's face. 'I have seven so far.'

'Oh, joy!'

'Make that six,' Dimity flashes her best cheeky grin. She winks again though to make it clear that she is only joking. While it is true that their friendship has always been built on a strong element of banter and playful snark, she would never ever seek to purposefully embarrass or upset Hecate over something that causes such obvious turmoil. With that she turns on her heel. She is almost at the door of the lab when she suddenly turns back around.

'Oh, and HB, when I said Indigo Moon was in need of her lucky charm, you know I didn't just mean the bracelet, right?'

Hecate nods. 'Duly noted, Drill.'

'Good girl. Just promise me though that the next time you find yourself caught in the midst of a crisis, or even if you don't, you'll at least give me some advance notice so that I have time to cash in my shares at Ben & Jerry's.'

'What on earth is that?'

'Oh, you'll see, Hecate,' Dimity says, a knowing smile plays on her lips as she thinks upon all the exotic new flavours she plans to introduce the former ice-cream fiend to. 'You'll see …'